NY Mets News: Key dates coming up this week in Hot Stove season

Hoping the New York Mets get down to business? The impatient among us can breathe a sigh of relief. It’s about that time.

The MLB offseason has already started, but things kick into a faster gear in December. November is for in-house keeping with events such as the 40-man roster and non-tender deadlines. Much of it culminates in what a team will be able to begin to address in the final month of the year which happens to be the first huge month of the MLB offseason.

Here are some of the key dates to pay attention to in the upcoming week.

The MLB Winter Meetings open the floodgates on free agency and with the cancellation of the GM Meetings back in November due to some upset stomachs, some of what could have happened then will have a chance to take place now. Hopefully, Pepto Bismol doesn’t secretly sponsor this event. It was at last year’s Winter Meetings when the Mets signed Justin Verlander on the first day.

One day into the Winter Meetings and the MLB Draft Lottery will take place. The Mets will have the seventh-best odds at improving their draft spot. What’s most important is to at least sneak into the top six. Because of where they were in the luxury tax penalty bracket, a seventh overall selection or lower will cause them to drop ten spots. Someone freeze a ping pong ball, please.

The events come to an end with the Rule 5 Draft; likely bookended against some major free agent signings and trades. Will the Mets take a chance on a bullpen arm or lose one of their unprotected players? Last year they selected New York Yankees pitcher Zach Greene only to return him to the Bronx before spring training ended.

Prepare yourself for a busy week for the Mets and basically everyone else for that matter. If ever there was a day to use some PTO that won’t carry over and refresh social media, it’s next week.